US commends India, Pakistan for FS-level talks

File photo of US Assistant Secretary P J Crowley at a State Department daily briefing in Washington.

The United States has commended the political leadership in India and Pakistan for holding talks between their Foreign Secretaries in New Delhi yesterday and hoped the two countries would build on this dialogue in the weeks and months ahead.

"As we have long encouraged the restoration of dialogue, it is an important step for Pakistan and India, and we commend the political leadership in both countries," US Assistant Secretary of State Philip J Crowley told journalists here on Thursday, hours after the talks in New Delhi.

"I think it’s the highest-level meeting between India and Pakistan since the tragedy in Mumbai. And we certainly hope that both countries will build on this dialogue in the weeks and months ahead," he said.

When a journalist remarked that nothing had come out of the meeting, Mr Crowley said that, given the fact there were some events recently where some elements were trying to derail the prospect of the meeting, because they recognised it had bee beneficial to both countries in the past, it was a courageous step to open the door to dialogue again.

"And we certainly commend the leadership of political courage and making sure that the meeting takes place. Now, the challenge is to build on this going forward," he added.

NNN